G20 Summit via video link: Overcoming disputes and agreeing on a joint response to the pandemic

(Patria) – G20 member states will hold their first summit via video link on Thursday.

G20 leaders are expected to acknowledge that the coronavirus is a threat to all of humanity, and to establish a mechanism for sharing information and experiences in the fight against the disease.

More than 470,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus, and the disease has resulted in more than 20,000 deaths.

- As the world faces the COVID19 pandemic and the challenges confronting health systems and the global economy, we will hold an extraordinary G20 summit to unite efforts for a global response, Saudi Arabia's King Salman announced on his Twitter account.

Saudi Arabia is chairing this year's summit, which will be held via video link, despite sharp criticism that the group has been too slow to respond to the crisis.

The summit will address the otherwise tense relationship between China and the US, which has worsened during the pandemic as the sides blame each other for the coronavirus. The two countries have agreed during preparations for the summit to at least temporarily set aside their differences and focus on jointly solving problems.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as President Trump, have repeatedly called the virus 'Chinese', which has angered official Beijing. They have also accused China of delaying informing the public about the virus, thereby putting the entire world in danger.

The Chinese government, on the other hand, claims that some American politicians are using the pandemic as a weapon against China's reputation, noting that the measures it has taken, including quarantining millions of people, have helped the rest of the world prepare to fight the virus.

China also disputes the widely accepted view that the virus originated in China, suggesting that it could have been introduced by the US military, which has only further exacerbated tensions between the two countries, Reuters reports.